


Are you keeping the baby?

by demurely1



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Canon Related, Comfort, F/M, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:43:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demurely1/pseuds/demurely1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This follows on from the scene in episode 6, when Mark and Beth discover Chloe with Dean at the farm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are you keeping the baby?

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/44404210@N04/8677474959/)

Chloe: _Are you keeping the baby?_

Beth: _How did you know about that?_

Chloe: _For God’s sake mum, I heard you fighting..._

 

Mark groaned silently to himself at Chloe’s question.  He’d known that she knew about the baby for weeks – for as long as he’d known about her boyfriend, Dean.  They’d even discussed it a few times since. Well, she’d asked him about it and he’d put her off, would be a more accurate description.  He had just been passing on to Chloe what Beth had been doing to him for the last six weeks.

It had all come to light when he’d confronted her about the boy he’d seen her with down by the cliffs. She come back at him about Dean being seventeen, two years her senior, almost taunting him to ask her about whether they were having sex. Of course they were! But they were using condoms, unlike him and mum!  As usual she had confounded him, leaving him almost speechless.

Fortunately, Chloe had never been slow to defend herself, and now here she was explaining quite succinctly how she knew!  So, it was Beth’s turn to be stunned.

Mark knew Beth wouldn’t want to be drawn on anything to do with the baby, so he quickly stepped in.  He walked over to Dean, holding out his hand.

“Thanks for looking after Chloe for us,” he half-smiled, “I can see you’ve been really good for her. Why don’t you come by one evening soon? Have some tea with us? ”

Dean still looked like a rabbit in the headlights, and shook Mark’s hand not quite believing this was going so smoothly.  He’d been dreading the possible confrontation with Chloe’s parents, especially with everything that had happened this summer.

“Now,” went on Mark, turning to Chloe, “I want you to come back with me and Mum, now.   So say your goodbyes to Dean, we’ll be waiting for you in the van.” And so saying, he shepherded Beth back outside, and walked her towards the van.

Beth turned as if to speak, but was still dumbstruck. “See!  I knew she’d be OK,” Mark replied, shrugging and smiling at her, “though I didn’t expect that!”

Beth shook her head and regarded him, her eyes wide. “When they stood there, hand-in-hand, all I could think of was my mum and dad, you know, that day when we went in to tell them I was pregnant.  I think I know how they felt now!”

“Except Chloe isn’t pregnant!” added Mark. “Just in love – I think.” The image of Chloe smiling up and linking fingers with Dean flashed before his eyes. He caught Beth’s eye and nodded back towards the barn, where Chloe and Dean were emerging.  “Anyway, let’s not deal with that on the way home.  First let’s concentrate on her disappearing somewhere without telling us or answering her phone. OK?  The rest we can talk about later.”

Beth just nodded, eyes still wide.

.....

Later ended up being when they were in bed.

“What did you think of Dean?” Mark asked, speaking softly.  He watched Beth warily as he unbuckled and dropped his jeans.  She was already under the duvet staring blankly up at the ceiling. She blinked as though he’d broken her concentration and turned her head to look at him. He pulled his t-shirt off over his head.

Their eyes met and he stood still. He felt her eyes sweep down and then back up his body, as he reached for his pyjama top and pulled it on. “He seemed nice,” she pondered, “quite protective. I liked how he spoke up for Chloe, yet with respect, y’know?” Prompted by her pause, Mark climbed under the covers and lay on his back, as Beth turned onto her side still holding his gaze, and placed her hand on his chest. “How did you know she’d be there?”

“I didn’t!” Mark released a long sigh and lifted his arm to let her put her head on his shoulder, “I just hoped she would be,” he replied, stroking his hand down her side, under the covers. Then he went on to tell her the whole story, careful to keep his voice low enough not to be overheard.

Once Chloe had revealed her boyfriend’s name, it had not taken much asking around to find out where he lived. Mark thought it was probably Nige who had told him – he wasn’t sure – it had all got a bit hazy around the time of Jack’s death, other priorities seemed to have come up.

“So, are they having sex, then?” she whispered, watching her fingers on his chest.

She felt his hand still against her thigh and looked up into his eyes. “What d’you think?” he raised his eyebrows. “We can hardly say we’re surprised, can we? But...” he went on, regaining Beth’s gaze, “at least, they do use condoms..... so they won’t be making the same mistake, we did, eh?”

Beth stared blankly up into Mark’s eyes. He watched her stare melt as her eyes softened and she reached up to stroke his face. “Which one?” she asked nonchalantly, pulling her lips up to his.

He chuckled and let his head fall back onto the pillow, as he pulled her body up onto his own, luxuriating in her soft kisses at last.


End file.
